Beyond Our Horizons Weekly Travel Roundup: Wk 1 feat. Scotland, India

Long time, no see. Discredit where it is due, we have not done well in terms of posting new content over the past year. 2018 was a year of ups and downs which resulted in us deprioritize blogging a tiny bit. We feel a bit frustrated that we do not get to share any useful travel tips till a well-structured blogpost isn’t written up which just takes too much time.

In the spirit of combating this frustration in the new year, we’ve decided to create weekly travel roundups to contain the most pertinent travel tips and / or events that we come across in the week ending Sunday. Dalek’s move to London should mean that even a quiet week would give an event or two being held in Central London in the upcoming week.

Note: Week 1 is a bit of a funny one as we haven’t posted in months so we’ll be combining a few travels over the Christmas period into the Week 1 summary.

Scotland Highlights

Loch Ossian Hostel, Corrour

This is the absolute perfect place to get away from it all for a night or more. Corrour is the UK’s highest railway station and is only reachable by a private estate road making its remoteness very tangible. Dalek spent a night at the local youth hostel (as the sole resident) just before Christmas and highly recommends it for these reasons:

• The Glasgow – Ft William West Highland Way rail line to get to Corrour is picturesque on any day..

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• ..and this includes the stations themselves

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• The landscape facing the hostel is unbelievable
  

  The hostel can be seen towards the mid-right

• There are a few munros and corbetts ready to be bagged close to the station
  

  Corrour station house

• The hostel has a local stag called Charlie. He is adorable.
• The hostel manager Kathrine was absolutely lovely. Chatting with her while walking over a mile to the hostel was a trip highlight.

Off-peak round trip ticket cost: £28 with railcard (around £40 normally)

Stirling Castle, Stirling

Neither of us had physically gone into Stirling Castle before so a few spare hours were spent by Dalek exploring one of Scotland’s most iconic castles. It has quickly become one of his favourites as any visitor can almost tangibly feel the history that the castle has played host to. No brainer, this castle is an absolute must-visit, especially as a local who lives in one of Scotland’s cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth, etc). A few shots.

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Wallace Monument as seen from the Stirling Castle

India Highlights

Much of my time on this whistle stop tour of India was spent in Vadodara. Two recommendations stand out (if anyone does end up in Vadodara for any reason).

Sasumaa Gujarati Thali

As a vegetarian (or even otherwise), having a Gujarati Thali is one of the world’s best culinary experiences. Every diner starts with an empty plate and a number of bowls which quickly get filled up with small portions of around 15-25 distinct dishes. Using an elaborate system of finger clicks (we are not making this up), you can refill any item you want as many times. So good! Sasumaa is one of Vadodara’s best. Best part: costs 300 INR per person (£3.40)

Gujarati Thali Experience

Eastin Serviced Apartments

Although the name is a straight ripoff of Westin, the interiors, service, rooms and comfort levels of this hotel represent high value for money. There is no wonder the online ratings for Eastin are through the roof. Highly recommended for both business and leisure travellers.

Where will be going next week?

Dalek will be headed to Copenhagen for a few days as part of his course. Lots to look forward to as it will be his first trip to CPH while not being part of a transfer.

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